The combination of Josh Giddey, Coby White and Matas Buzelis resembles some sort of young core for the Chicago Bulls. None of them are likely to be the foundation of a future Bulls team, but it's clear they can all be good players on good teams.
In order to maximize their skills, the Bulls still must tear everything down.
Fans in Chicago have been asking for that teardown for years, and the emergence of Josh Giddey — who's played the most efficient basketball of his career in 2025 — and Coby White, who's eclipsed 20 points per game, shouldn't quell those cries. Rookie Matas Buzelis has also been very good in an expanded role the past two months after Chicago traded Zach LaVine at the deadline.
Even with Chicago being 10-4 in its past 14 games and on its way to a play-in berth, the Bulls front office has a responsibility to fully commit to a rebuild in the offseason, and give White, Giddey and Buzelis the runway to improve. A hot streak at the end of a season isn't reason to keep trying to compete — Artūras, I AM TALKING TO YOU. Do not get sucked into what you've seen in February and March. Please.
Nikola Vucevic, Lonzo Ball, Kevin Huerter, Zach Collins and (maybe) Patrick Williams could all fetch value on the trade market. They are serving no point on the 2025 version of the Chicago Bulls, and could actually be a hindrance to future versions of the Bulls.
Not handing the young guys the keys to the ship could have consequences — Buzelis, for example, is sublimely talented, but his growth will be stunted by a mediocre team unwilling to admit it's a mediocre team.
I think Malik Monk on the Charlotte Hornets of the late 2010s is a good example of this; when young players are on middling teams and not allowed to make mistakes, their growth is doubly delayed; first, it's delayed because they aren't allowed to learn. Second, it's delayed because the franchise they play for isn't capable of developing young players into stars if they're not on the court.
When a franchise's focus is winning games, but they're not doing that very much, and the attempts to win still intrude on the development of young players... where's the upside? What's the point?
Again, I think Giddey, White and Buzelis are all awesome. I've come around on Josh Giddey quite a lot, specifically, as I never thought he was particularly good before this season. Even if none of them are the cornerstone of the franchise, they're the most promising players this team has rostered in years. So let them be promising, Bulls. This franchise is so scared of the unknown, it would rather stick with what its done for a decade... even though the known and unknown both involve losing — at least the unknown includes some hope for better days!
I'm having fun watching the Chicago Bulls of the past two months — but I'm not willing to say the Bulls have figured everything out, or that whatever they've been doing has finally worked. I'm concerned the Bulls front office thinks their work is done, when it's really just beginning.
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NBA news roundup
- The Indiana Pacers scored one hundred sixty-two (162) points on Thursday against the Wizards. They won by 53. They had 48 assists. Shot 64 percent from the field. Sometimes the stats say more than any adjective can.
- The West play-in race is hot. By the grace of some higher power, the Mavs are still clinging to the No. 10 seed in the conference, with Phoenix a half game back. With Anthony Davis back in the lineup, there's a real chance this Mavs team still makes the postseason... not that Dallas fans actually want that.
Grizzlies fire Taylor Jenkins, for some reason
We're only a few hours removed from Memphis making one of the most stunning coaching decisions I can remember. Taylor Jenkins is out, and while Taylor Jenkins may have been out at season's end, he's now out... on March 28th. Three weeks before the NBA playoffs.
Grizzlies fans are mostly happy; general NBA fans are mostly confused. I am somewhere in the middle. Jenkins has had one disappointing season with the Grizzlies — losing in the first round in 2022-23. Other than that... how much would a different coach have changed anything about this team during Jenkins' tenure? When, during the past few years, would the Grizzlies have looked objectively better with a different coach?
If you want to nitpick coaching decisions in individual games, you can. But you can nitpick player performance in games, too, and those mistakes won't cause guys to lose jobs.
I've never thought Memphis was underachieving with its roster. I've never thought, "Wow, if only Taylor Jenkins was doing a better job, this team could really be something!"
The decision could be justified — teams fire good coaches all the time. The timing is really, really hard to go to bat for. This whole situation is odd.